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Captain Ebenezer Faxon
Captain Ebenezer Faxon '''(December 12, 1749 - January 11, 1811) was a prominent West Hartford citizen and the proprietor of the Faxon homestead on the corner of New Britain Avenue and South Quaker Lane. He was famous for contributing to the planting of elm trees at that corner in Elmwood after the surrender of British General John Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, New York in 1777. These elms gave the community its name. He married (Jul. 20, 1755 - Nov. 30, 1827). His grandson, William Faxon, was the Chief Clerk of the Untied States Navy Department during the Civil War and the United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Another grandson, Chester Faxon, was the owner of a wagon shop in Elmwood. Life and Death Ebenezer Faxon was born on December 12, 1749 in Braintree, Massachusetts as the son of Thomas Faxon and Elizabeth Hobart. He removed to West Hartford, Connecticut on January 6, 1772 and started up the manufacture of pottery, utilizing the rich clay in the southern community of Elmwood. On February 8, 1776, he married Eleanor Whitman (Jul. 20, 1755 - Nov. 30, 1827), the daughter of John Whitman and Abigail Pantry. Eleanor Whitman was also the sister of Sarah Whitman Hooker. He enlisted in the Continental Army against Great Britain on August 15, 1776 under Captain Charles Seymour and his company. He was discharged on September 17, 1776. After the surrender of British General John Burgoyne in 1777, he planted thirteen elms at the corner of New Britain Avenue and South Quaker Lane to celebrate the event. These elms gave Elmwood its name as a distinct community in West Hartford. In 1779, during the American Revolutionary War, he requested from the town the ability to buy lead for his burgeoning pottery business, but was turned down because lead was needed for other purposes. In June 1781, he witnessed the colorful and exciting march of General Rochambeau's troops along New Britain Avenue from Rhode Island. Connecticut historians also believe that George Washington traveled by New Britain Avenue from Farmington (where he dined) and so traversed the southern part of West Hartford on the route past the Faxon homestead and the Sarah Whitman Hooker House, owned by Sarah Whitman Hooker, the widow of Thomas Hart Hooker, a descendant of the founder of Hartford - Thomas Hooker. After the war, Faxon contributed to the planting of more elm trees along New Britain Avenue and Newington Road. Ebenezer Faxon died on January 11, 1811. '''Children * Ebenezer Faxon (1777-1865) - m. Mary Colton (1775-1850) * Elihu Faxon (1779-1847) - m. Elizabeth Olcott (1784-1854) * Eleanor Faxon (1782-) - m. Theron Deming (1761-1839) * Sally Faxon (1784-1853) - m. Levi Deming (1772-1847) * Elizabeth Faxon (1787-1865) - m. Reverend Chester Colton (1783-1850) * Nancy Faxon (1790-1868) - m. Roderick Colton (1790-1862) * Amelia Faxon (1793-1872) - m. Timothy Seymour Goodman * Thomas Faxon (1796-1855) - m. Marcia Maria Goodman (1796-1871) * Charles Faxon (1799-1867) - m. Lucy Ann Steele (1804-1874)